Method for manufacturing a foam game panel and structure using the same

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a method for manufacturing a foam game panel and structure using the same. The method includes the steps of selecting a fabric while designing a pattern on a moldboard, constructing a foam material on a groove hole of the moldboard, such that the foam material is constructed on a surface of the fabric and along the grove hole to define a design pattern, and then producing a foam pleat on a surface of the fabric by expanding, hardening and shaping the foam material in an oxidizing process. The foam game panel structure of the invention is used to replace the traditional method and structure that uses stitching or plastic mold template, and thus the invention achieves the effect of saving the cost of the mold, providing a fast manufacture, and giving a variable safe stylish design with an artistic appearance.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a foam gamepanel and a structure manufactured by the method, and more particularlyto a method for manufacturing a foam game panel and a structure made byconstructing a foam material on a moldboard and attaching the foammaterial on a fabric, so that patterns and arc embossments are formed onthe surface of the fabric and provided for playing a game or serving asa decoration.

2. Description of the Related Art

Games can help relaxing our tension and releasing our pressure, and wecan learn the knowledge and skills and also can have physical trainingor fun during the process of playing a game. A game can be played withor without tools or accessories. In other words, a game can be played bypeople only, or by means of various different game materials andequipments to give more fun. In different games, a game panel is alightweight, foldable and portable game medium provided and used for abalancing game. The game panel is mainly composed of a fabric and adesign pattern, and the size and shape of the fabric varies with thenumber of players, and the design pattern is attached directly onto thefabric. Particularly, the design pattern is protruded slightly from thesurface of the fabric to give a three-dimensional pattern, such that oneperson or two persons or more can hold the edges of the fabric duringthe game, and a rolling ball can be rolled on the surface of the fabricwith a design pattern and rolled to a destination or a score point alongan internal path of the design pattern. The game panel can train thebalance of hands and eyes of a player, and also can provide lots of funto the players.

To attach the design pattern with the fabric to produce a slightprotrusion, two main traditional manufacturing methods are used. In thefirst traditional method, the game panel includes a fabric and aplurality of strip elements, which are mainly cloth strips and eachstrip element is sewed and fixed onto the fabric, so that the stripelements can be protruded slightly on the surface of the fabric to givea three-dimensional form. With the arrangement and combination of thestrip elements, a design pattern is formed. Further, a rolling ball isprovided for players to play a balancing game, and the rolling ball canmove along the path among the strip elements to achieve the balance andobjective of the game.

However, the foregoing manufacturing method requires cutting the stripelements in appropriate length and size, and then sewing and fixing thestrip elements onto the fabric, and the whole process is complicated.Furthermore, it is necessary to inspect the manufactured strip elementsand trim extra threads on the front and back sides of the fabric to givean artistic look and prevent the threads from becoming loosened orseparated. Therefore, such manufacturing method consumes much time andefforts, and the sewed strip elements usually do not have athree-dimensional layout.

In the second traditional method, the game panel is made by attachingand fixing a plastic pattern that is produced by a mold onto the fabric.Although this method can simplify the aforementioned sewing process, thecost for the mold of the plastic pattern is high, and the effect ofattaching the plastic pattern onto the fabric is not as good asexpected. Since the plastic pattern comes with specific thickness andhardness, the game panel cannot be folded and storage easily. As aresult, the game panel occupies much space.

In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor ofthe present invention based on years of experience on the design andmanufacture of game panels to conduct experiments and modifications, andfinally developed a game panel in accordance with the present inventionto overcome the foregoing shortcomings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention toovercome the shortcomings of the prior art by providing a method formanufacturing a foam game panel, and the method constructs a foammaterial at a groove hole of a moldboard, so that the foam material isconstructed on a surface of the fabric and along the groove hole, and athree-dimensional pattern is produced after the foam material isoxidized. The invention can be used to substitute the processes ofsewing cloth strips or attaching a plastic mold, and thus the inventioncan simplify the manufacturing procedure and save the manufacturingtime.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a foam gamepanel structure, wherein a design pattern is formed by attaching a foammaterial onto a fabric, and an arc protruding surface is produced afterthe foam material is oxidized, so as to provide a three-dimensionallayout and a slippery-resisting effect.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the method of manufacturing a foamgame panel in accordance with the present invention comprises the stepsof:

a. selecting a fabric;

b. designing a pattern on a moldboard, such that the pattern disposed onthe moldboard defines a groove hole;

c. constructing a foam material at the groove hole of the moldboard, sothat the foam material constitutes a pattern disposed on a surface ofthe fabric and constructed along the groove hole; and

d. removing the moldboard and shaping the foam material by an oxidizingprocess.

The foam game panel structure of the present invention comprises:

a fabric, having a flexible surface; and

a foam pleat, made of a foam material, for forming a design pattern byattaching the foam material on the fabric, and producing a foam pleat byexpanding, hardening and shaping the foam material in an oxidizingprocess, such that the foam pleat has a three-dimensional form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic manufacturing flow of a method in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective front view of a first preferredembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic rear view of a first preferred embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a structure in accordance with a secondpreferred embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a structure in accordance with a thirdpreferred embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The objectives, shape, structure, apparatus, characteristics and effectswill become apparent by the detail description together with theaccompanying drawings. Of course, some of the elements of the presentinvention may be substituted by their equivalents, and the detaileddescription of preferred embodiments given in the specificationillustrates the structure of the invention.

Referring to FIG. 1 for a method for manufacturing a foam game panel inaccordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, themanufacturing method selects a fabric 11, and the size, shape and colorof the fabric 11 can be cut or designed according to customerrequirements, and the material of the fabric 11 can be a woven cloth, anunwoven cloth or any other appropriate material, and then a designpattern 12 is used as a pattern fixed onto the fabric 11, and the designpattern 12 can have lines, stylish shapes or characters. Particularly,the design pattern 12 is designed on the moldboard 13 and in a hollowform, and the design pattern 12 of this embodiment is in the pattern ofa maze.

Further, a foam material 14 is applied and constructed on the groovehole 15 of the moldboard 13, and the concentration and color of the foammaterial 14 can be adjusted as needed, and the foam material 14, and theconcentration of the foam material 14 adjusted according to differentcomposing materials can determine the thickness of lines formed afterthe foam is hardened. For instance, a high-concentration foam occupies asmaller space and gives thinner lines, and a low-concentration foamoccupies a larger space and gives thicker lines. The color of the foammaterial 14 can match with the color of the fabric 11 to enhance theartistic look and design. Further, the foam material 14 can be oneselected from the collection of polyurethane (PU), ethylene vinylacetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) and their mixture,such that the foam material 14 can be coated or injected onto an objectand shaped after being oxidized.

By stacking the moldboard 13 having the design pattern 12 onto thesurface of the fabric 11 and constructing the foam material 14 into thegroove hole 15 of the moldboard 13, we can produce a pattern on thesurface of the fabric by applying the foam material 14 along the groovehole 15. Finally, the moldboard 13 is removed, and the foam material 14is oxidized. The foam material 14 is shaped into a three-dimensionalpattern with specific height and curvature, after the foam material isexpanded and hardened for approximately 60 seconds, and thus therequired manufacturing time is short. In the process of expanding andhardening the foam material 14, curved pleats are produced at thepositions where the foam material 14 is attached. In other words,recessions are formed on another surface of the fabric 11, such thatafter the fabric 11 is turned over, the recessed pattern of the fabric11 can be used for playing a different game.

The manufacturing procedure of the present invention can replacetraditional manufacturing methods to reduce the manufacturing time,procedure and manpower. Furthermore, the foam material 14 is combinedwith the fabric 11 naturally after the foam material is expanded, andthus the foam material will not fall off easily and also can providewaterproof and slippery-resisting effects.

Referring to FIG. 2 for a structure of a foam game panel 2 in accordancewith a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the foamgame panel 2 comprises a fabric 21 and a foam pleat 22, wherein thefabric 21 has a flexible surface, and the size or color of the fabric 21is set according to customer requirements, and the material of thefabric 21 can be a woven cloth, an unwoven cloth, or any otherappropriate material, and the foam pleat 22 is made of the foammaterial. In the manufacturing method of this embodiment, the foammaterial is constructed into the groove hole of the moldboard, such thatthe foam material is attached onto the surface of the fabric 21 andalong the groove hole, and then the foam material is shaped and fixedonto the fabric 21 by an oxidizing process to form a three-dimensionalfoam pleat 22. The foam material can be polyurethane (PU), ethylenevinyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), a mixture ofthe foregoing materials or any other appropriate foam material.

In this embodiment, the design pattern 23 is in the pattern of a maze,and the fabric 21 has a plurality of score holes 24 disposed atappropriate positions of the fabric 21, and each score hole 24 has anumber 25 around the score hole 24 that serves as a basis for scoringpoints. Each score hole 24 further includes a woven net 26 fixed ontoanother surface of the fabric 21, so that an object passing through thescore hole 24 can be caught by the woven net 26.

If the front side of the foam game panel 2 of the invention is used forplaying a game, at least one player holds the edges of the foam gamepanel 2, and places a rolling ball 28 on the surface of the foam gamepanel 2. The player controls the inclination and direction of the foamgame panel 2 to roll the rolling ball 28 along a path in the designpattern 23. If the rolling ball 28 reaches and falls into a score hole24, then the player scores points according to the number 25 marked nextto the score hole 24.

Referring to FIG. 3, the foam pleat 22 produces a groove 27 at acorresponding position on the surface of the fabric 21, after the foammaterial is shaped to form the foam pleat 22, and the groove 27 issunken into the surface of the fabric 21 for allowing a ball to roll inthe groove 27 for playing various different kinds of games, such as abalancing game by rolling the ball in the groove 27.

Referring to FIG. 4 for a second preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the surface of the foam game panel 2 having the foam pleat 22faces down and contacts the floor, and the friction produced between thefoam pleat 22 and the floor provides the slippery-resisting effect andthe foam game panel 2 can serve as a slippery-resisting mat.

Referring to FIG. 5 for a third preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the foam game panel 3 comprises a fabric 31 and a foam pleat32 attached and fixed onto the fabric 31, and the foam pleat 32 forms adesign pattern 33, and the design pattern 33 could be a pattern ofanimals, plants, sceneries, geometric shapes, decorative designs orcharacters to match with different colors of the foam pleat 32 andfabric 31, so as to provide an artistic three-dimensional foam gamepanel 3 for the decoration purpose.

However, the foregoing embodiments are provided for the illustration ofthe present invention and not intended to limit the structure, size, andplaying method of the present invention, and any ordinary person skilledin the art can make appropriate changes and modifications withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in theclaims.

In view of the description above, the present invention has thefollowing advantages:

1. The invention can save time and effort, and it can replacetraditional manufacturing methods and structures to achieve the purposeof saving time and manpower.

2. The invention provides stylish designs with different colors to matchwith the color and pattern of the different colored foam materials andgives diversified changes to the design, and the shaped foam materialhas a three-dimensional artistic pattern that can stimulate consumers'purchasing desire.

3. The invention provides extensive applications, and the structuremanufactured by the method of the present invention comes with anartistic pattern, and a slippery-resisting effect and also covers a widerange of applications for games or decorations.

In summation of the above description, the present invention definitelyachieves the expected objective and provides an improved method andstructure to enhance the performance over the prior art. The inventionfurther complies with the patent application requirements and is dulyfiled for the patent application.

1. A method for manufacturing a foam game panel, comprising the stepsof: a. selecting a fabric; b. designing a pattern on a moldboard, suchthat said pattern disposed on said moldboard defines a groove hole; c.constructing a foam material at said groove hole of said moldboard, suchthat said foam material constitutes a pattern disposed on a surface ofsaid fabric and constructed along said groove hole; and d. removing saidmoldboard and shaping said foam material by an oxidizing process.
 2. Themethod for manufacturing a foam game panel of claim 1, wherein said foammaterial is one selected from the collection of polyurethane (PU),ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) andtheir mixture.
 3. The method for manufacturing a foam game panel ofclaim 1, wherein said foam material produces a pleat at a position wheresaid fabric is attached after said foam material is expanded andhardened, and a recession on another surface of said fabric.
 4. A foamgame panel structure, comprising: a fabric, having a flexible surface;and a foam pleat, made of a foam material, for forming a design patternby attaching said foam material on said fabric, and producing a foampleat by expanding, hardening and shaping said foam material in anoxidizing process, such that said foam pleat has a three-dimensionalform.
 5. The foam game panel structure of claim 4, wherein said foammaterial is one selected from the collection of polyurethane (PU),ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) andtheir mixture.
 6. The foam game panel structure of claim 4, furthercomprising a groove disposed on a surface and at a corresponding to saidfabric fixed with said foam pleat.
 7. The foam game panel structure ofclaim 4, wherein said fabric has a plurality of score holes disposed atappropriate positions for passing an object.
 8. The foam game panelstructure of claim 7, wherein said score hole has a number disposed atthe surrounding of said score hole.
 9. The foam game panel structure ofclaim 7, wherein said score hole has a woven net disposed around saidscore hole.